What’s new for educational trips in 2019

Every year brings with it a new selection of workshops, learning spaces and sites suitable for students across the key stages.

Here’s a roundup of some of the new things that schools can expect in 2019.

LEGOLAND® Haunted Mansion

LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort is set to open a new ride this spring – the Haunted House Monster Party. The new attraction will see pupils seated at a banquet table, complete with food, cauldrons, potion bottles and goblets made from LEGO® bricks, before the room begins to swing and turn upside-down. A visit to try out the new ride can be combined with the site’s large number of curriculum-linked interactive workshops.

British Science Week returns to Chessington

Following its success in 2018, Science Week will return to Chessington World of Adventure from 25th to 29th March. Take part in workshops that range in topic from Animal CSI to Bones Alive, or join in with the site’s Science Week challenges, which could see Key Stage 1 and 2 students solving a mysterious crime with help from the Penguins, or see Key Stage 2 and 3 pupils discovering the science behind the rides.

Giant Children’s Garden to arrive at Kew

Schools can already visit the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew for a range of tours, talks and sessions but on 18th May, the site is set to open a giant Children’s Garden, aimed at Primary aged children. The garden will encourage visiting children to develop their love for nature, plants and the outdoors as they explore the area, which has been designed around the earth, air, sun and water.

Life-sized brick dinosaurs to join the animals at Marwell Zoo

School visits to Marwell Zoo in Hampshire from 5th April until 1st September will provide students with the chance to gaze upon 50 life-sized LEGO® brick dinosaurs, as well as at the animals that already call the zoo their home. The exhibition will be included in entry to the Zoo but extra activities, including the opportunity to make a creation at Brickosaurs Basecamp will also be on offer to visiting schools.

Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre comes to Blenheim Palace

Following the success of the pop-up venue in York last year, this year will see Oxfordshire’s Blenheim Palace welcome a simultaneous theatre on its site from 8th July. A special schools programme will be on offer, which will immerse students in the world of Shakespeare, while school performance dates will provide the chance for visiting schools to see productions of Hamlet, The Tempest and Twelfth Night.

Tudor days at Kentwell Hall

Kentwell Hall in Suffolk is set to bring history to life once more in 2019. Visiting schools could experience history through the ages on 3rd May, as a range of different eras are brought to life by the living-Historians. Or, visit on 27th to 28th June for a fully immersive and interactive experience that will have students traveling back to Tudor England. Both events are suitable for Key Stage 2, Key Stage 3 and GCSE.

Image: Dippy at the Natural History Museum (Photo Credit: The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London)

Travelling Dippy exhibition

Once the centre piece at London’s History Museum, Dippy the diplodocus dinosaur skeleton is now touring the UK. Dippy’s journey will see him visit the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow next, where he will be on display from 22nd Jan – 5th May. The tour will then move to the Great North Museum in Newcastle upon Tyne (18th May – 6th October), the National Museum Cardiff (19th October – 26th January 2020), Number One Riverside in Rochdale (10th Feb – 28th June 2020) and will conclude in Norwich Cathedral (11th July – 31st October 2020).

Journey through the body

The flagship museum experience, BODY WORLDS, actually launched late last year, but we think it’s going to be a biggie for school trips in 2019. There are over 200 exhibits, spread across six galleries, all of which are intended to educate visitors on the inner workings of the human body and feature displays of real bodies. The new attraction at the London Pavilion also offers comprehensive education packs which cater for Key Stages 3 through to 5.

After being voted number one school in Surrey, Shannon Clark spoke to St John’s C of E Primary School’s head teacher Mark Richards to find out what part learning outside the classroom had in their transformational journey.